Coromandel & Caves

Before meeting up with family for Christmas we enjoyed a whirlwind tour through the beautiful Coromandel peninsula. From Auckland we drove south through Thames and then along the spectacular coastal road which twists and turns along the ocean road before heading up and over the mountains and into the small town of Coromandel. We spent two nights at a site overlooking the sea - beautiful for the evening sunsets.  This was a great spot to visit the Driving Creek Railway - a brilliant miniature railway lovingly built by Barry throughout his life. The track makes its way up the forest hills, over bridges and streams and ends with a spectacular view over the peninsular. An excellent day out especially as we bumped into our friends we'd met earlier in the Waipoura forest.

Leaving Coromandel town, we took the steep mountain road over to Whitianga on the other side of the peninsula. Arriving at Hahei beach, and with the tide on our side, we headed straight to the famous Hot Water Beach where there is a spot on the beach where you can dig your own spa pool with the water heated from the hot springs underneath. We had to be careful as some of areas of the beach have steaming hot water bubbling out! A very strange but awesome experience, especially with fish and chips for tea afterwards.

For an early Christmas treat, we took a trip on a 'glass bottom boat' to see the spectacular cliffs and coastline of Whitianga including 'Cathedral Cove' - a dramatic and huge hole in the rock which you can walk under. The boys enjoyed speeding through the waves on the boat and then viewing the sealife through the glass bottom of the boat with various fish swimming past. Jonny jumped out of the boat for a spot of snorkeling. We enjoyed a 'free night' camping at a carpark on the sea front which had a more beautiful view out the window than many campsites we had paid for.

The next day we were up and off for a lengthy journey across the country on route to the Taranaki region on the west side where we were due to spend Christmas. We broke the journey with a two-day stay in Waitomo, famous for the Glow Worm caves. Worth a mention is Hamilton Gardens where we had a lunch stop: beautiful gardens divided into 'zones' for each style of garden, historically and stylistically. And it was FREE! Recommended. At the Waitomo caves, we visited Ruakuri cave for a two-hour tour of the caverns with spectacular rock formations and glow worms. But the afternoon trip to the famous Glow worm caves was breathtakingly stunning. Here, you board a small boat and float silently on a river than flows through the cave with thousands of glow worms shining above like a beautiful cathedral of stars. Thank goodness Ben had fallen asleep in his sling at this point otherwise his squawking might have ruined the moment for everyone!

We left Waitomo and after another long drive, eventually made it to our destination for Christmas on 23rd Dec, to spend the festive period with some of Ali's relations.

Sunset campervan view

Driving Creek railway

Hot Water Beach

Cathedral cove

Hamilton Gardens

Waitomo caves